• Maryland’s Demand Driven Two Year Workforce Investment Plan
• "Reach Higher, America:  Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce."
  National Commission on Adult Literacy, June 2008. (PDF document, 1.9MB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

This report examines the nation's "failure to address America's adult education and workforce skill needs" and recommends actions to increase the nation's capacity to serve more adults and align education outcomes with workforce needs.

• "Adult Learning in Focus: National and State by State Data." Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), 2008.  (PDF document, 2.6MB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

The purpose of this report is to "provide a comprehensive look at adult learning in America at the national and state levels. There is also a companion guide with specific policy recommendations for states. It focuses on higher education and access to higher education/post-secondary education.

• "Overcoming Obstacles, Optimizing Opportunities: State Policies for Increasing Post-Secondary Attainment for Low-Skilled Adults." Breaking Through, March 2008. (PDF document, 1.5MB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

Breaking Through is a multi-year partnership initiative between Jobs for the Future and the National Council for Workforce Education, with the goal of helping community colleges identify and develop strategies to enable low-skilled adults to enter into and succeed in occupational and technical degree programs.

• "Strengthening State Adult Education Policies for Low Skilled Workers," Working Poor Families Project, Summer 2007. (PDF document, 559KB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

This is a policy brief by the Working Poor Families Project, a project of the Casey, Mott, Ford and Joyce Foundations focused on workforce development for low-income Americans

• Maryland State Plan for Adult Education and Family Literacy (Word document, 659KB, download Word viewer for free)

• "Stepping Up to the Future:  Adult Literacy Challenges at Work, at Home, and in the Maryland Community." The Superintendent's Panel on Excellence in Adult Education, December 2005. (PDF document, 815KB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

This Maryland report studied the State's adult literacy needs and found that demand for services significantly exceeds the capacity. The report makes recommendations to increase investment in adult education and create partnerships with the business community.

• "Lifelong Learning: New Strategies for the Education of Working Adults." Center for American Progress, December 2007. (PDF document, 5MB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

This report makes recommendations to address the problem of under-educated and under-skilled workers. The recommendations include revamping the national Adult Basic Education model, beginning with more employment-based and technology-based programs.

• "Transitioning Adults to College: Adult Basic Education Program Models." National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, December 2006.  (PDF document, 264KB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

This report reviews existing Adult Basic Education programs in various states that aim to transition graduates of the programs to post-secondary opportunities. The report develops a "typology" of these programs.

• "The Impact of Prison Education Programs on Post-Release Outcomes." Gerald Gaes, 2008. (PDF document, 157KB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

This paper reviews the evidence on the impact of correctional education programs on post-release outcomes, focusing on the research methods and measurements, in order to make a more refined assessment of the current system.

• "The Current State of Correctional Education." Prisoner Reentry Institute. 2008. Jeanne Contardo and Michelle Tolbert, 2008. (PDF document, 550KB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)

The goal of this paper is to provide readers with an understanding of the state of correctional education in the United States. It examines histories and analyses of various aspects of the system, including delivery models, program availability, participation, and completion, and funding.

• "Patching the Leaky Pipeline: Helping Low-Skill Marylanders Access and Succeed in College" Job Opportunities Task Force (PDF document, 562KB, download Adobe Acrobat for free)